ems in ireland

[emt_irl]

all ambulances here are crewed by paramedics minimum but more and more advanced paramedics are being trained.

we have a few als rapid responce cars in the city. i know more about dublin ems as things out in the country may be different. the fire brigade opperate 12 emergency ambulances and when you ring 999(your 911) the fire brigade ambulance would turn up.


when you go outside dublin you'll see the first ambulance picture i posted the yellow and green battenburg stickerd one. all protocals are they same across the country, so weather you dial 999 in dublin or in cork you'll recieve the same standard of care

 

[NJmedic3250]

Well that sounds like the HSE is on the road to a superior EMS system. What about HEMS operations in Ireland? Is there a flight program anywhere in the country?

 

[emt_irl]

not yet... there is a fundraiser on going for the aiaa the all ireland air ambulance. but has yet to leave the grounnd.

in dublin though your no more then like 8-10 mins away from a hospital so it would only be really needed in remote country places

 

[Scout]

The Coast Guard can and do use the Seakings for Med transports and the Aer Corps(Air Force) are equipped to do medical transport when requested. AW 139 I think.


The Sea king is a serious bit of kit. Great fun to play with.

 

[emt_irl]

well yeah the coast guard the odd time, but they dont do it to often unless it happened in or around the water. and the midlands certenly wouldnt see any sign of it

 

[ritchiewall]

work exchange

Does anyone know if the work exchange program to Ireland from Canada is still in existence for Paramedics?

 

[EMT trainee]

emt is 120 hours classroom work (4weeks) 2 weeks practical placements and have to maintain continous professional development. eg attend confrences, attend phtls/itls course etc

my emt course is 120 hrs class work (broken up into tuesday and thursday 7-10 and 9 to 5 saturday) and 40hrs wrk placement of which 1 day is spent in a hospital and 3 days in the back of an ambuance transporting patients and emergency calls. I had my 1st placement last friday and must say i learned a lot and did a lot of hands on work like vital signs and moving the patients from stretcher to ambulance and transfering them to the hospital beds and enjoyed it very much

 

[mc400]

OMG Fire runs part of the EMS? It must be horrible in Dublin then and much better everywhere else. J/K fella's thought I would a joke in .

 

[emt_irl]

its a weird set-up, seems dysfunctional from a neutral point of view, but it does work really well aside from the politics and funding issues

 

[byoung57]

Do the privates and volunteer services use paramedics as well?

Bill

 

[Scout]

Yes, but you *almost need to have been part of the national ambulance service to get the paramedic qualification. The required 1 year probationary period is the stumbler

 

[EMT trainee]

qualified last year as an emt and was wondering where best to do paramedic courses and how much they would be costing and how long the course would last

 

[Tyler]

There is nowhere in Ireland that you can do it privately.

If your unwilling to travel ensure you get your C1 and D1 driving licenses and then you will be in a good position to apply next time the HSE recruits.

Its likely they will be recruiting EMTs for Intermediate Care Vehicles again in the medium term (it requires you have your EMT and the above licenses).

Its also possible they will recruit people for Paramedic positions. These will also require the above licenses.

If your willing to travel to the States bear these two PHECC documents in mind...

Documents/Register/Joining%20the%20Register/Qualifications%20obtained%20overseas/PD%20revised%20guidelines%20for%20Ass%20of%20Eq_2011_Nov.pdf

Documents/Register/Joining%20the%20Register/Qualifications%20obtained%20overseas/BLN0012011%20Recognition%20Equivalence.pdf

(copy and paste the above after going to www dot phecit dot ie - I cant link due to my low post count)

PHECC wont make it particularly easy to get recognised - your course MUST meet their minimum requirements in terms of hours and topics covered, so you will need to move to the states to meet those requirements - it would be impossible to just go over for a few weeks and do that.

Persons who trained in the UK are sometimes given recognition, but the probation period normally applies to them also. You could consider their Paramedic Science degrees (google them) and if you complete one of them and work for a while you may get recognition here at P or perhaps even AP level.

 

[EMT trainee]

thanks for that tyler will keep that in mind. will have to start saving for that. I have a frind inmy st john ambulance division that is currently studying paramedic science in plymouth college so might try there will wiat and see how emt goes for me first thanks again

 

[Flyhi]

Phecc that !!

Hi EMT Trainee,

Just a quick post with soem solid advice. I was in your exact position. I trained as an EMT here, caught the bug and wanted to go on to the holy grail of Irish Paramedic. Of course thats way easier to type than it will be to actually complete in Ireland. Tyler is 100% on the money, there is no way to privately upskill to Paramedic here.

So if you are still looking at upskilling then its training abroad for you my boy!! The UK I know you have looked at. I went to the States and qualfied as a NREMT Paramedic. I loved every second of it but when I came home and applied to PHECC the fun stopped. I did not have the time and money or the visa to spend the year post qualification in the States so when I came home PHECC decided I was equal to a Paramedic intern. I spent 9 months trying to get an internship with either DFB or HSE (NAS).

I lost my ability to start IV's, to intubate, to give a load of pre hospital meds, to pace or even cardiovert a patient. Now this is my advice to you. If you are young free and able to get the money together. Do NOT spend the next two years of your life training here as a so called Paramedic. In international terms you will be apending 2 years training to Technician or Advanced EMT levels. You will basically be driving a big yellow taxi and be able to take vital signs.

Now before all you Irish "Paramedics" jump in and kick and scream I want to highlight that it is not the fault of any paramedic in this country its the syetem. There are some great paramedics in this country who would be even better "Real Paramedics" if they system allowed them to progress. Yes one can make it to AP but even then compared to International paramedics the AP's here are under skilled as once again the system has let them down.

If you are serious about becoming a paramedic train abroad in either the UK, Denmark, Poland or the States but be prepared to stay away and practice in which ever country you train in for at lease 3 years.

Then when you return you will have the qualification and most importantly the required time to have a great chance to get your AP licence here.

I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Tyler]

Hi EMT Trainee,

Just a quick post with soem solid advice. I was in your exact position. I trained as an EMT here, caught the bug and wanted to go on to the holy grail of Irish Paramedic. Of course thats way easier to type than it will be to actually complete in Ireland. Tyler is 100% on the money, there is no way to privately upskill to Paramedic here.

So if you are still looking at upskilling then its training abroad for you my boy!! The UK I know you have looked at. I went to the States and qualfied as a NREMT Paramedic. I loved every second of it but when I came home and applied to PHECC the fun stopped. I did not have the time and money or the visa to spend the year post qualification in the States so when I came home PHECC decided I was equal to a Paramedic intern. I spent 9 months trying to get an internship with either DFB or HSE (NAS).

I lost my ability to start IV's, to intubate, to give a load of pre hospital meds, to pace or even cardiovert a patient. Now this is my advice to you. If you are young free and able to get the money together. Do NOT spend the next two years of your life training here as a so called Paramedic. In international terms you will be apending 2 years training to Technician or Advanced EMT levels. You will basically be driving a big yellow taxi and be able to take vital signs.

Now before all you Irish "Paramedics" jump in and kick and scream I want to highlight that it is not the fault of any paramedic in this country its the syetem. There are some great paramedics in this country who would be even better "Real Paramedics" if they system allowed them to progress. Yes one can make it to AP but even then compared to International paramedics the AP's here are under skilled as once again the system has let them down.

If you are serious about becoming a paramedic train abroad in either the UK, Denmark, Poland or the States but be prepared to stay away and practice in which ever country you train in for at lease 3 years.

Then when you return you will have the qualification and most importantly the required time to have a great chance to get your AP licence here.

I hope it all works out for you.

Hi Flyhi,

Great response.

Just curious how did you get your internship sorted?

Did you have the theoretical hours for para only or did you have the theoretical hours for AP and they didnt give you AP as you didnt have the clinicals for even P?

Did PHECC offer you the chance to do the NQ - P exam instead of the internship (their website implies its the candidates chance to do adaptation OR exam)


Edit: For others reading I agree with what Flyhi says re getting AP from abroad - for those who have multiple years experience (3+) after getting advanced certification abroad then it is possible to get AP status in Ireland - I know two who did so (and thats 2 of 2 that applied) but also know some UK trained Paramedics who struggled to even get Paramedic recognition in Ireland.

 

[Flyhi]

Phecc that !!

Hi Tyler,

Believe me when I say that I had a massive task of trying to get the paramedic internship. In the end it was just luck. No PHECC did not offer me the choice between taking the exam or doing the adaptation period. They are a law onto themselves an best left alone .

cheers

 

[Flyhi]

Just to put things into context. I am not saying that PHECC do a bad job or that Irish Paramedics or AP's are any less capable of performing at the international Paramedic standard.

My point is that if I was young or single with no commitments I would not wait around here for the opportunity to train with the DFB or HSE as a paramedic. Remember that on skill for skill basis the Paramedic tag we have in Ireland is actually a tech or Intermediate grade in most every other country.

This combined with the lack of cohesion between the pre hospital and inter hospital sides of EMS and some fairly restricting CPG's and throw in all the new terms and conditions that your contract will have you tied into. Please take a fools advice and if at all possible look abroad. If you gave 2 years anywhere else you will be either certified or nearly certified as a proper paramedic.

With regards to value of your qualification my NREMT P is getting me noticed in the Middle East, Oz, NZ, Africa and Europe. My HPC was gained on the back of my NREMT P and it is also accepted in most countries as a good level qualification. My Irish paramedic is a lower qualification than the other two and is not really worth that much in CV terms.

Going back to what I said as I dont want to finish by insulting anyones feelings or pride. There are some great Irish Paramedics & AP's who would be even better International level Paramedics but they are caught in a bad system with little prospect of ever having the upskilling or the trust from this system to allow them to reach the levels of other international paramedics.

Overall this is a bad outcome for both these good EMS professionals and of course our patients.

Cheers:

 

[EMT trainee]

My point is that if I was young or single with no commitments I would not wait around here for the opportunity to train with the DFB or HSE as a paramedic. Remember that on skill for skill basis the Paramedic tag we have in Ireland is actually a tech or Intermediate grade in most every other country.

thanks for that great post . I wish I was young dont have any commitments yet but i be 35 in may prob left it a bit late as lost my job from warehouse recently due to the job been not so busy and there no jobs out there at the moment. unless i win the lotto or rob a bank lol

 

[Flyhi]

Hi EMT Trainee,

Sorry to hear that some of the options are closed but think of the UK as a tech. You can make some money, get frontline experience and still work towards thae paramedic level. One thing for sure is that there is little or no work here for EMT's. Hope it helps